Bill Clinton and Aretha Franklin Toast Elton John’s AIDS Charity

A cold driving rain could not put out the candles in the wind. They looked real as they flickered on the steps of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, for the black-tie benefit for the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

The weather and the fact that it was election night could dampen spirits only so much. “We live in strange times,” said Elton John, sighing, who arrived in an embroidered Gucci dinner jacket. “But you have to be an optimist, because if you aren’t hopeful, you lose everything.”

It seemed an appropriate sentiment from the singer of “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” and “I’m Still Standing.” And never mind “Rocket Man.”

The gala celebrated the foundation’s 25th anniversary, attracting a starry crowd that included Judith Light, Marina Abramovic and John Waters, who, with others, recalled his despair over last year’s elections.

But this event, which raised $4.4 million, was more about uplift than anything else. “There’s always hope,” Billy Joel said during the cocktail hour. “Even when sometimes that’s all there is.”

Since Mr. John (or as some would say, Sir Elton because he was knighted) started his foundation at a kitchen table in Atlanta in 1992, it has raised almost $400 million. And while AIDS deaths have declined among white gay men, many populations are still at risk, including minorities, drug addicts and people in developing countries.

“But there is nothing we can’t achieve when we bring good people together,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo told the crowd of 700 over dinner in a speech that seemed campaign ready.

Former President Bill Clinton gave a tribute as well. He said the impressive charity work of Mr. John and his husband, David Furnish, was like a beautiful song. “All our lives are like candles in the wind,” he said, adding that what matters is “what they’re burning for.”

He sat at the head table with Governor Cuomo, Sting, Lily Safra, Lynn Wyatt and Donna Karan, and gamely posed for selfie requests throughout the night. There was plenty of turbo-mingling, of course. Glenn Close in a black velvet dress chatted with Mike Ovitz at one table, Susan Lucci and Nelson DeMille at another.

During the live auction, when gubernatorial election results were being checked on phones, Alec Baldwin encouraged upward bidding with an imitation of both Mr. Clinton and President Trump. And even though Neil Patrick Harris, as master of ceremonies, did his best to move things along, Mr. John didn’t finish a final, teary speech until late into the night. “We need more humanity, more love,” he told the crowd.

Close to 11, Aretha Franklin, who has battled illness recently, took to the stage in an embroidered dress and white stole.

Although she seemed a little fragile, she prevailed, singing in sweet, straining and soulful tones about troubled waters, prayer and hope.